


Meditation on a Rock

by Gail Riordan (lferion)



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Poetry, Rituals, Zine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2001-10-30
Updated: 2001-10-30
Packaged: 2017-10-08 13:13:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/75999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lferion/pseuds/Gail%20Riordan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In 'Jedi Apprentice 3 <span class="u">The Hidden Past</span>' Master Qui-Gon gives Obi-Wan a rock. Much food for thought has that gift provided.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meditation on a Rock

**Author's Note:**

> First appeared in 'Rituals and Meditations'

On my thirteenth birthday my master gave me a rock. A plain, smooth river rock, just the size to hold comfortably in the palm of my hand. Even though it saved, if not my life, certainly my self, my sanity, I didn't really understand. Why a rock? Why that rock? But I still have it.

One afternoon, when I know I had been particularly flightly and unfocussed, he told me to meditate on it. I was both chastened and sceptical, but I did as I was told. Over the years it became one of my favourite meditations, never failing to ground me, bring me insight and calm. Rough and formless at first, it quickly gained shape and weight, was polished and refined with use and concentration.

I still do it. Oh, not daily, or even frequently, but often enough. Never forgotten.

I sit or kneel holding the rock loosely in one hand, and breathe slowly and deeply.

* * *

Let your body be at ease, balanced and sure, a strong foundation.  
Let your heart be at ease, steady and strong, a generous vessel.  
Let your mind be at ease, alert and aware, a willing tool.  
Let your spirit be at ease, quiet and attentive, a light within the Light.

Why a rock?  
  A present, a mystery.

Why a rock?  
Why this rock?  
Why this rock from this master to this student?  
_(What do you see?) _**A first paving stone**  
      From this man to this boy-youth-man?  
_(What do you seek?) _**On a path**  
      From Qui-Gon Jinn to Obi-Wan Kenobi?  
_(What does your heart say?) _**Travelling together**

Why a rock?  
Why this rock?  
What is a rock?  
Hard, mineral, heavy, old, worn, solid, smooth  
Sea-bone, star-heart, sky-blood, earth-flesh  
Bright with the Force, light hidden in hollows  
Bourne by love, bearing time's imprint,  
Destiny's demands

Why a rock?  
  A mote, a pebble, a stone, a boulder, a mountain, a world  
   _(See the myriad forms)_

What is rock?  
  Weight, heat, pressure, permanence, paradox  
   _(Feel the contained potential)_

What is this rock?  
  Ripples in the water, marker on a board, far-flung missile  
   _(Learn the possibilities)_

Why this rock?  
  Symbol, structure, strength-in-silence, stillness  
  Held and holding, shaped and shaping, giving gift:  
  Comfort, companion, tool/weapon, beginning and end  
   _(Know the moment, washed and weighted in Light)_

Why this gift?  
  Not ease: endurance  
   _(It is a hard thing, to be a Jedi)_  
  Not appearance: truth  
   _(The Light and the Dark both surround us)_  
  Not expectation: understanding  
   _(The Will of the Force speaks soft and low)_

Why a rock from this master to this student?  
Grounded in affection, centered in respect, offered in honor:  
A foundation-stone of love.

* * *

I emerge from my meditation calm, centered, steady. All around me is rock and sand and hard, hot air, but the rock in my hand is a warm and comfortable shape. My hope is like this small stone, warm and precious and enduring in a wilderness of sand. My hope, my love, my faith and reason for enduring, all held safe, solid and sure.

My master gave me a rock, and with it his love. Even after all this time, all that has happened, I have them both still.


End file.
